Month: July 2010

In the days leading up to my autocross on Saturday, I got to thinking that it could be fun to try recording some in-car footage with my Kodak Zi8. After thinking about it for a bit, I decided on using my Gorillapod SLR-Zoom to attach the camera to my passenger-side headrest:

The video worked out better than I had hoped. The wind noise was a bit more than I had expected, but maybe I’ll try getting (or making) a wind muff or the like for next time. And, if it’s of interest, I’ve also posted a few photos of how I set up the Gorillapod to attach the camera to my car’s passenger-side headrest.

Update 7/25: I’ve also scanned a copy of the drivers’ map for the autocross (PDF, 1.2 MB). You may also notice some hand-drawn arrows weaving through each of the slaloms. Drivers are allowed to go through the slaloms in either direction (whether Left-Right-Left or Right-Left-Right) and once I figured out which of those would offer a smoother line, I drew in those arrows to remind myself of the path I had wanted to take.

SXSW Interactive apparently had over 12,000 attendees this year, more than this year’s SXSW Music. And I still had just as much fun this year as I’ve had any year. It was great.

Once again, Grant Hutchinson helped organize a “Found Type Photowalk” around Austin. Ostensibly, it’s about typography—and there is quite a bit of typography talk—but it’s also a fantastic mid-conference respite where photographers of all types can enjoy a leisurely walk around Austin while taking shots along the way.

I brought along my trusty Canon 40D and it held up pretty well. If anything, the one thing I noticed is that even an image-stabilized lens (like the 17–55mm f/2.8 IS that I was mostly using) can’t save every shot—several of my shots during panels ended up around 1/13sec (at ISO 400) and shots that slow just don’t have a great chance of coming out sharp. (I could have theoretically bumped up the ISO to 800 or 1600, but my 2007-era doesn’t do that well at high ISOs.) Maybe I’ll consider Canon’s rumored 60D if that comes out in time for next year?

I wouldn’t be surprised if there might be even more attendees next year. And that’s okay. I’ve made so many great friends at SXSW over the years and I wouldn’t miss the chance to hang out with them again.